TERRITORY BMX will have bragging rights on the only permanently roofed racing facility in Australia when it is completed midyear.

The $1.8 million, 4000sq m project at Jingili BMX Club has been jointly funded by the Federal and NT governments.

NT BMX has scheduled a Come ‘n’ Try Day on Sunday, May 25 at Jingili as the first day of racing under the new roof. The sport’s Territory president Jason Eecen said both governments had been great in declaring the amount of funding for the 102m x 45m roof and then never wavering from that figure.

BMX is now seeking expressions of interest from business houses around the NT to help “polish the facility right up’’.

“Our ultimate aim is to get a round of the national series in Darwin by next year or 2016 and we want to build a facility that meets or exceeds the standards set by the southern states,’’ Eecen said.

First discussed in 2008 when parents of riders competing at the Jingili track put forward a vision of an all-purpose competition and training track, the roof means all-year racing will happen.

“That vision was to have a training facility to allow our riders to train and get some track time in the lead-up to the May nationals,’’ Eecen said. “Our tracks in the Top End are generally washed out in that (wet season) period, leaving our riders heading into the nationals cold.

“So we built it as big as we could afford, bearing in mind it had to be cyclone rated and be capable of hosting a round of the national series.’’

Eecen said the project had attracted a lot of interest from BMX communities around Australia.

“I was down in Perth last weekend and you could hear people talking about what was happening on the Darwin track,’’ he said.

“So we’ve been progressive because we wanted our riders to train and be ready for the nationals.

“Ahrens have done a fantastic job in pulling all this together. It might not be completely finished by May 25, but it will be rideable – so that is our target.’’